


Life V.S. Death

by Cerulean_Empress



Category: Death Note
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Life Note, M/M, balance, lawlight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 11:45:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5289461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerulean_Empress/pseuds/Cerulean_Empress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Light Yagami wasn't the one to find the Death Note? How would the outcome be affected? What would happen differently? </p><p>If everything must be balanced, then what could possibly counter something as powerful as the Death Note? What if Light Yagami found that power instead?</p><p>This is a canon verse fic. with alternate events that change the story to be something more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life V.S. Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Readers:   
> Komu & Dylinda
> 
> [[you can find them on tumblr as komlin & morticianprince]]
> 
> also thanks Serena. (for helping me decide on a few details.)

 

_**{Rules of the Death Note}** _

 

  1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
  2. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
  3. If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.
  4. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
  5. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.



 

* * *

 

** Date: March 25, 2004 — Thursday.**

** Time: 8:30 P.M. **

 

“Hey Light, dad just called to say he’s on his way home, and dinners ready, so come downstairs to eat. Tonight’s specialty is sushi rolls, your favorite.”

“All right, I’m coming.”

I look up at my younger sister, Sayu, who’s waiting for me by my bedroom door. I carefully change the screen showing on my laptop before turning it off like I normally do to avoid any suspicion. I wouldn’t want my family to know I can hack into police files, now would I?

My name is Light Yagami, and I’m 18 years old. I’ll be attending To-Oh University starting this spring. Most people underestimate my brilliant intelligence because of my stunning good looks, but I enjoy and take pride in proving them wrong. I am ranked number one in all of Japan after all. 

I follow my sister out and let the welcoming aroma of the warm food guide me. We both head downstairs to the dining room in a comfortable silence.

“Good evening, Mom,” I greet, taking my place next to Sayu at our dining table. “How has your day been?”

“Good evening, darling,” she replies with a smile before kissing my forehead. “My day’s been just fine. Thank you for asking. I’ve been teaching Sayu how to cook. In fact, she made tonight’s dinner all by herself.”

“Is that so?” I ask teasingly, continuing the small talk with practiced ease. “Then I’m really looking forward to eating it.”

“Stop it. You’re just saying that,” Sayu blushes.

 _Ding-dong._  

“Oh, that must be your father – always forgetting his key. I’ll be right back.”

Dad actually always has his key with him, but rarely ever uses it. The truth is Dad just likes to have mom welcome him home.

“How was your day, Dad?” I ask once both my parents return to the dining room. “Did you get any new leads on the Kira case?” 

Fun fact – my dad’s the police chief, and I ask him questions I already know the answers to because that would be the normal thing to do if I didn’t regularly hack into their system.

“That’s confidential police business. You know I can’t discuss it with you. Only the special task force gets access to information related to that case.”

“Okay, then let me join the task force.”

“Light…” My dad warns. “We’ve discussed this before. How many times do I have to tell you ‘no’ before you understand?”

I know I’m testing his patience again. But I’m too stubborn and prideful. I won’t give up this time until he says ‘yes’.

“But Dad, you _know_ I can help. I’m just as smart if not smarter than all of you current members. Last time your excuse was that I was still in high school. I’ll be in college soon. I’m not a child anymore!”

“It’s too dangerous, and you’re still too young – high school graduate or not.”

“Are you kidding me? Matsuda’s barely older than me, yet you let him in on the task force. He’s still a rookie and a complete idiot, while I have experience and the brains to boost progress. I’m ranked number one _and_ I've been the academic representative of Japan for my age group since forever. No one in your task force has _ever_ achieved that. So why? Why am I suddenly not good enough?”

I hadn't realized I'd started yelling. I fix up my cracked mask of false perfection while my family soaks up my true ugly feelings and quickly continue on after a tense moment of silence.

“You’ve accepted my help on lots of other cases before this, so why can’t I work with you on this one as well? Why is this one suddenly too dangerous? Why is my age becoming an issue now?” I demand using facts to validate my arguments.

“I mean, wouldn’t that be the smart thing to do? You know I won’t let this case go, so why not accept my offer? You can keep an eye on me that way, and it would be _less_ dangerous than me working by myself.”

Frustrated, I play with my food and wait for the information sink in. My mother and sister are smart enough to know not to butt in when my father and I have arguments about the Kira case, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to. There’s a tense air lingering in the room as no one eats the now cold food.

“I’ve been doing my own research and have a couple of new leads,” I say dangling the bait in front of him. “I even have a list of suspects based on locations, times of death, methods of death, and the news. I’d be more than happy to share all the information I’ve gathered _after_ you let me join your task force.”

I really had hoped I wouldn’t have to use bribery to get in, but I don’t have much of a choice left, now do I? I’m going to get in no matter what. The task force is my number one priority right now. 

“All right, fine,” he says caving in with a sigh. “But it’s not official yet. I still have to talk it over with Ryuzaki and get his permission.”

“Ryuzaki?” I ask curiously, not being able to recall the name at all.

“He’s in charge of the Kira case. He works for L.”

“For L?” I question out loud before I can stop myself. 

Instead of explaining further, my dad just nods in reply.

L is the man no one knows anything about. He’s considered one of the world’s greatest minds. The world’s best detective. I’ve wanted to meet him ever since he proved that Kira is real and right here in Japan and that he can kill people without being present at the crime scene as long as he has a name and a face to go with it.

Growing up, my dad inspired me to become a detective. He was the original reason for my wanting to study criminology and criminal justice. Right now, though, most of my reasons are because of L.

L is the reason for my wanting to join the task force. He’s the reason why I want to be the first one to solve the ‘impossible’ Kira case. Then maybe, just maybe, I might impress him, and I’d get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to work with him. I want to be his partner. His equal. I want to have a chance to surpass him. L is my _goal._

“Does that mean you still haven’t met L?” I ask, trying to milk out more information from him. “How do you contact him then? Isn’t he working on the case too?”

“Only Ryuzaki and Watari have any way of contacting L. He looks over all the information we gather and goes over it with the team from a laptop. We haven’t seen how he looks or heard his real voice yet since he uses that voice over crap. I’m pretty sure no one really knows him, but those two are the only ones who might have met him.”

“Watari? Is he another one of L’s detectives?”

“No, he’s Ryuzaki’s butler. Can we please talk about this tomorrow? I’ve already said too much.”

I of all people should remember that police information isn’t supposed to be discussed at home. It could put our family at risk and get my father in trouble at work. My mom and sister always know more than they should; which isn’t always necessarily a bad thing, but it’s definitely never a good thing when it’s related to police cases.

“I’m exhausted tonight and just want to relax with my family. No more questions about work. Let's eat. Your questions will be answered _after_ you join the task force. I'll call in first thing tomorrow morning.” 

I nod and smile, hiding away my real emotions. I won’t let my mask come off again until I’m by my lonesome. Starting tomorrow I’ll work hard to prove that I’m better than whoever this Ryuzaki person is.

The rest of dinner goes by quietly. My mother reheats the food, and my sister eats while watching a drama starring her favorite actor, Hideki Ryuga. I don’t attempt any small talk and neither do my parents. The awkwardness doesn’t go away but we all pretend like it does.

Tonight wasn’t the first time my mask has ever cracked. But before tonight, I’d always change the topic when the conversation started to become an argument - wanting to be the perfect son.

Tonight was my limit. I couldn’t wait to catch up to L anymore. I realized earlier that I have to start acting ‘now’, and that means I can’t keep the mask on forever.

I finish eating first and excuse myself to go study for the upcoming entrance exams. In the safety and privacy of my bedroom, I remove my mask and change into comfortable nightwear. I relax on top of my bed and fall asleep after awhile, too eager to meet tomorrow.

_Tomorrow._

My dad will talk to Ryuzaki tomorrow, and I’ll finally be joining the task force. _Tomorrow_ I’ll be a step closer to my goal, and then it’ll just be a matter of time until I catch L’s eye.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to write this fic by xxxHolic honestly. Yuko's idea that everything must be equally balanced somehow led me to Death Note. I've always loved LawLight.  
> In canon, Kira takes over Light from the beginning, so we only have a little time with Light, and so this is dedicated to LawLight and the 'what ifs'.  
> There are a million different possibilities as to what could have happened.  
> This is just what I ended up with.
> 
> Please Comment, Subscribe, Bookmark, and leave Kudos if you haven't already.  
> Thanks for reading!  
> I hope you enjoyed this~


End file.
